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Then they said, "We will give it back and will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you are saying." So I called the priests and made them swear that they would do according to this word.

But the former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their young men exerted their power over the people. But I did not do so because of the fear of God.

So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?"

You have also set up prophets to call out in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘A king is in Judah!' So now it will be heard by the king according to these words. So now, come, let us take counsel together."

He was hired for this reason, that I might become afraid and act accordingly and sin, so that they could give me a bad name in order that they could reproach me.

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.

So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel lived in their cities. Then the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in their cities.

So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved."

So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim.

The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was exceedingly great gladness.

You split the sea before them,So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land;And their pursuers You cast into the depths,Like a stone into mighty waters.

So You made known to them Your holy sabbath,And commanded to them commandments, statutes and law,By the hand of Your servant Moses.

They refused to listen,And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You did among them;So they became stiff‑necked and gave themselves a chief to return to their slavery in Egypt.But You are a God of lavish forgiveness,Gracious and compassionate,Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;And You did not forsake them.

So their sons entered and possessed the land.And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,To do with them according to their desire.

But as soon as they had rest, they returned to do evil before You;Therefore You forsook them in the hand of their enemies, so they had dominion over them.Then they returned and cried to You. And You listened from heaven,And many times You delivered them according to Your compassion,

"So now, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness,Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,Which has found us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all Your people,From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.

Its abundant produce is for the kingsWhom You have put over us because of our sins;They also rule over our bodiesAnd over our cattle according to their desire,So we are in great distress.

Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, Azekah and its towns. So they encamped from Beersheba as far as the valley of Hinnom.

Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they might celebrate the dedication with gladness, with hymns of thanksgiving and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps and lyres.

So the sons of the singers were gathered from the district around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites,